Understanding perspective-taking in multiparty conversations: insights from Mandarin nouns

Individuals frequently adopt others’ perspectives both when interpreting language and when formulating their own responses in conversation. This experiment tested how participants used perspective information to resolve references for bare nouns in Mandarin. Specifically, it explored whether, when f...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Xiaobei Zheng, Chao Sun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-01-01
Series:Frontiers in Psychology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1499538/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832584990463885312
author Xiaobei Zheng
Chao Sun
author_facet Xiaobei Zheng
Chao Sun
author_sort Xiaobei Zheng
collection DOAJ
description Individuals frequently adopt others’ perspectives both when interpreting language and when formulating their own responses in conversation. This experiment tested how participants used perspective information to resolve references for bare nouns in Mandarin. Specifically, it explored whether, when faced with two interlocutors, participants distinguished between each individual’s perspective or considered both as a whole. Using a classical referential game, the study manipulated the visual perspectives of two partners. In Experiment 1, both speakers had the same seating direction and visual field, and the results showed that participants equally took their perspectives into account above chance levels, providing a baseline finding for referential resolution of Mandarin bare nouns in perspective-taking studies. In Experiment 2, both speakers had the same seating direction but one of them shared the larger portion of visual field with the participants. The results showed that participants took the perspectives of the two speakers independently, while also comparing the perspectives of both interlocutors to facilitate quicker and more accurate referential resolution. These findings demonstrate that perspective-taking is a complex and dynamic process, providing evidence for the study of perspective-taking in Mandarin and contributing insights into comprehension processing in multiparty conversations.
format Article
id doaj-art-4b73671f0eeb4a92980334f8f2277527
institution Kabale University
issn 1664-1078
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Psychology
spelling doaj-art-4b73671f0eeb4a92980334f8f22775272025-01-27T06:40:32ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782025-01-011610.3389/fpsyg.2025.14995381499538Understanding perspective-taking in multiparty conversations: insights from Mandarin nounsXiaobei Zheng0Chao Sun1College of International Studies, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, ChinaSchool of Chinese as a Second Language, Peking University, Beijing, ChinaIndividuals frequently adopt others’ perspectives both when interpreting language and when formulating their own responses in conversation. This experiment tested how participants used perspective information to resolve references for bare nouns in Mandarin. Specifically, it explored whether, when faced with two interlocutors, participants distinguished between each individual’s perspective or considered both as a whole. Using a classical referential game, the study manipulated the visual perspectives of two partners. In Experiment 1, both speakers had the same seating direction and visual field, and the results showed that participants equally took their perspectives into account above chance levels, providing a baseline finding for referential resolution of Mandarin bare nouns in perspective-taking studies. In Experiment 2, both speakers had the same seating direction but one of them shared the larger portion of visual field with the participants. The results showed that participants took the perspectives of the two speakers independently, while also comparing the perspectives of both interlocutors to facilitate quicker and more accurate referential resolution. These findings demonstrate that perspective-taking is a complex and dynamic process, providing evidence for the study of perspective-taking in Mandarin and contributing insights into comprehension processing in multiparty conversations.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1499538/fullperspective-takingcommon groundMandarinbare nounreferential resolution
spellingShingle Xiaobei Zheng
Chao Sun
Understanding perspective-taking in multiparty conversations: insights from Mandarin nouns
Frontiers in Psychology
perspective-taking
common ground
Mandarin
bare noun
referential resolution
title Understanding perspective-taking in multiparty conversations: insights from Mandarin nouns
title_full Understanding perspective-taking in multiparty conversations: insights from Mandarin nouns
title_fullStr Understanding perspective-taking in multiparty conversations: insights from Mandarin nouns
title_full_unstemmed Understanding perspective-taking in multiparty conversations: insights from Mandarin nouns
title_short Understanding perspective-taking in multiparty conversations: insights from Mandarin nouns
title_sort understanding perspective taking in multiparty conversations insights from mandarin nouns
topic perspective-taking
common ground
Mandarin
bare noun
referential resolution
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1499538/full
work_keys_str_mv AT xiaobeizheng understandingperspectivetakinginmultipartyconversationsinsightsfrommandarinnouns
AT chaosun understandingperspectivetakinginmultipartyconversationsinsightsfrommandarinnouns